Wednesday, April 30, 2014
Sunday, April 27, 2014
Lazy Days...
One of my favorite times of year is when the Cary Arts and Crafts festival is in Bond Park. Now, I always forget whether it is called "Lazy Days" or "Spring Daze" - but I go every year! This was the first year that DH decided to tag along - and the first time in several years that I did not have to tote a stroller around!
Aside from the "community" spirit that this brings - I love shopping vendors (or in the case of my 4 year old, "obstacles"). There were mermaids (www.ncmerfest.com) and in the kids area, Carolina Parent (a magazine) was giving away free books for kids. There were sport vendors, where the kids got to hit a baseball and win a poster from the local Soccer team. There were several other kid-friendly stops along the way - clay spoons (www.sculpey.com), fire hats, climbing on a city bus, and foam pirate-hats.
For me - the best part is the local handmade shopping! Here are my "finds" this year!
For Laura: A little purse
For me: A necklace. Infused glass - my favorite!
For me: A headband. Even though Chevron is not usually my thing- this was actually reversable! I do like my "running" headbands a lot (Bondi band), but this is a bit more stylish!
For Mark: an airplane
Again, for me: A "tea" bag trivet. This ceramic piece will replace something more "boring" that I keep at the office!
And even though Easter is a bit past - I really enjoyed receiving these pictures from a good friend. Proof that I actually play with my kids (and don't "just" take pictures)... P.S. This bubble wand was AMAZING, and is now on my wishlist! It's awesome.
Aside from the "community" spirit that this brings - I love shopping vendors (or in the case of my 4 year old, "obstacles"). There were mermaids (www.ncmerfest.com) and in the kids area, Carolina Parent (a magazine) was giving away free books for kids. There were sport vendors, where the kids got to hit a baseball and win a poster from the local Soccer team. There were several other kid-friendly stops along the way - clay spoons (www.sculpey.com), fire hats, climbing on a city bus, and foam pirate-hats.
For me - the best part is the local handmade shopping! Here are my "finds" this year!
For Laura: A little purse
For me: A necklace. Infused glass - my favorite!
For me: A headband. Even though Chevron is not usually my thing- this was actually reversable! I do like my "running" headbands a lot (Bondi band), but this is a bit more stylish!
For Mark: an airplane
Again, for me: A "tea" bag trivet. This ceramic piece will replace something more "boring" that I keep at the office!
And even though Easter is a bit past - I really enjoyed receiving these pictures from a good friend. Proof that I actually play with my kids (and don't "just" take pictures)... P.S. This bubble wand was AMAZING, and is now on my wishlist! It's awesome.
Wednesday, April 23, 2014
Tuesday, April 22, 2014
Excitement!
Some Toddlers show their excitement by biting. Part of growing up (and being in preschool full time) - at least for our kids - is being bitten. Today I got the first "bite" report for my younger kid. She's got jaw-marks on her arm/wrist. Poor thing.
But I was so excited about everything else going on/happening today, that my reaction was somewhat subdued.
I have never won a radio contest. Probably because you have to call-in to win. But today - for the second time in the last 2 years - I did win a magazine contest!
Part of my "winnings" include 4 free "passes" to the "Big Muddy Challenge". That is - for my whole family!! I am ridiculously excited to be taking my kids - ages 2 and 4 - to their first "mud" event. Wowzers. I have been known to say that I couldn't wait for age 4 so my son could participate in a mud event with me. And now, we all get to go and the passes were free! Also included are several cookbooks, and coconut oil. So. Excited. It's basically a two mile obstacle course (I am picturing tunnels, perhaps a tire stomp, a balance beam - - and - of course - mud!) DH may not go with us. And I can't have my camera (I wouldn't want it to get ruined!). But... I get to go play in the mud with my kids, and that makes me super happy!
All this on the same day that we FINALLY were able to book tickets to see family in Texas! A huge score when the normally priced 350+ tickets were down to 225 or so. When you have to buy 4, that's still quite a hit - - but a HUGE savings relative to their "normal" price. Score!
So I've been in an overexcited state all day. I'm blogging for my THIRD time this week. (I won't be able to keep this up, I'm quite certain, so please don't get too excited!)
Having one thing scheduled led to another (the dog in the kennel) and another (a vet appointment for the dog) and then another (eye appointments for me and my hubby), and I still managed to send some flowers to my mama. (Did I mention she just won the "Good Apple" award and that I am very proud of her?)
Whew! By Friday, I may not have any more words for my "Coffee Date"... We shall see!
But I was so excited about everything else going on/happening today, that my reaction was somewhat subdued.
I have never won a radio contest. Probably because you have to call-in to win. But today - for the second time in the last 2 years - I did win a magazine contest!
Part of my "winnings" include 4 free "passes" to the "Big Muddy Challenge". That is - for my whole family!! I am ridiculously excited to be taking my kids - ages 2 and 4 - to their first "mud" event. Wowzers. I have been known to say that I couldn't wait for age 4 so my son could participate in a mud event with me. And now, we all get to go and the passes were free! Also included are several cookbooks, and coconut oil. So. Excited. It's basically a two mile obstacle course (I am picturing tunnels, perhaps a tire stomp, a balance beam - - and - of course - mud!) DH may not go with us. And I can't have my camera (I wouldn't want it to get ruined!). But... I get to go play in the mud with my kids, and that makes me super happy!
All this on the same day that we FINALLY were able to book tickets to see family in Texas! A huge score when the normally priced 350+ tickets were down to 225 or so. When you have to buy 4, that's still quite a hit - - but a HUGE savings relative to their "normal" price. Score!
So I've been in an overexcited state all day. I'm blogging for my THIRD time this week. (I won't be able to keep this up, I'm quite certain, so please don't get too excited!)
Having one thing scheduled led to another (the dog in the kennel) and another (a vet appointment for the dog) and then another (eye appointments for me and my hubby), and I still managed to send some flowers to my mama. (Did I mention she just won the "Good Apple" award and that I am very proud of her?)
Whew! By Friday, I may not have any more words for my "Coffee Date"... We shall see!
Sunday, April 20, 2014
Happy Easter!
My mind is wound up tonight with lots of thoughts. But first, a bit of a complaint:
If you cook something exactly as directed on the package, it should turn out. It's that simple. Until it isn't.
Enter tonight's Pork Loin. After cooking it as directed, upping the temperature and cooking some more... I had to walk away. Thankfully, dear hubby "finished it off" with some pan frying to make it edible. And it wasn't bad, in the end - - but it isn't something that is on our "regular" list- and I suppose this is why.
Of course, it may have helped if the barley soup wasn't so... well... bland. Ick, nearly. I would have preferred just the veggie soup without the barley. Another fail. Not to mention that I was hoping for stuffed peppers with quinoa (when I realized that Quinoa, which tends to be a regular staple at our house, was not to be found in our over-stocked pantry).
So, to console myself... I over-ate most of the day. A couple glasses of wine, a cookie or two, baklava earlier this morning.. a peanut butter treat after lunch...
So perhaps I should confess that I am dieting - Weight Watchers. And I was down 10 pounds as of last week, which is great! But I'm not going to be surprised if I'm up this week. And thankfully, my "points" for the week start again on Monday.
So, Happy Easter to all! We've had a quiet day - if you count cooking 3 meals (waffles and boiled eggs for breakfast, homemade-ish pizza for lunch, and the failures above for dinner) plus a walk where even the little one managed over a full mile to and from the "walking" park.
The easter bunny was good. Here's a preview of what may be more to come for Wordless Wednesday this week:
If you cook something exactly as directed on the package, it should turn out. It's that simple. Until it isn't.
Enter tonight's Pork Loin. After cooking it as directed, upping the temperature and cooking some more... I had to walk away. Thankfully, dear hubby "finished it off" with some pan frying to make it edible. And it wasn't bad, in the end - - but it isn't something that is on our "regular" list- and I suppose this is why.
Of course, it may have helped if the barley soup wasn't so... well... bland. Ick, nearly. I would have preferred just the veggie soup without the barley. Another fail. Not to mention that I was hoping for stuffed peppers with quinoa (when I realized that Quinoa, which tends to be a regular staple at our house, was not to be found in our over-stocked pantry).
So, to console myself... I over-ate most of the day. A couple glasses of wine, a cookie or two, baklava earlier this morning.. a peanut butter treat after lunch...
So perhaps I should confess that I am dieting - Weight Watchers. And I was down 10 pounds as of last week, which is great! But I'm not going to be surprised if I'm up this week. And thankfully, my "points" for the week start again on Monday.
So, Happy Easter to all! We've had a quiet day - if you count cooking 3 meals (waffles and boiled eggs for breakfast, homemade-ish pizza for lunch, and the failures above for dinner) plus a walk where even the little one managed over a full mile to and from the "walking" park.
The easter bunny was good. Here's a preview of what may be more to come for Wordless Wednesday this week:
Friday, April 18, 2014
Friday Coffee (or Tea!)
I've gotten a few nice notes and/or gentle "nudges" lately to return some "words" to my blog... so after a bit of a hiatus, I'm going to attempt to post some words today!
I like the "coffee talk" approach, and it's Friday- so I'm sticking to that as my theme. In case you aren't familiar - or didn't read my previous "coffee talk" post - that just means that I'll be typing a blog post as if I were sitting and talking to you in a coffee shop, over a "cuppa".
It's Easter weekend - which means several things. A few extra hours off of work and daycare (part of thursday, and all of good friday). Fortunately, we were also invited to a playdate - which will make the day go by fast! This is a natural egg-dying playdate. SO - right now, in the fridge, I have spinach, coffee, and blueberries attempting to add some color to eggs. Just to get fancy, I made a few brown and a few white in each of the batches, to see if egg color matters for the natural dying process. After seeing the results after the eggs had finished cooking, I'm not very impressed. I'm hoping tomorrow that I will be wowed- - or that one of the other party-goers will have more success with their selected ingredients! We don't have any plans for Easter. No travel for the weekend (in fact, it's practically a sin that we have no airline tickets purchased at this point in time!). No food activities planned. The kiddos did spend last weekend with Dad at Bond park, and they got to hunt.
In other news, I need to start studying again. I've had the materials for a while now, so it's just a matter of cracking open the books. That's on the agenda for the weekend. We'll see if it actually comes to fruition!
I finally made an effort to plan a coffee-date in real life- the face to face kind. After I had the people and the time - I learned that our chosen venue was "fully committed" more than a month out. Which- I thought - was an odd way of saying "booked" or "sold out". But anyhow... we're trying to determine whether to pick another date for our fancy afternoon tea, or to pick another activity for our already planned afternoon time!
I am excited about being a World Book Night giver again this year! I have 20 copies of The Dog Stars just waiting for April 23rd, when I will be able to distribute to whomever I choose! It is an awesome organization that gives books away for free one night per year. This is my third year - the first year I gave away Ender's Game, and last year I gave away Still Alice. All good books! (Of course- I still have not read The Dog Stars - so I guess I can't actually reccommend that one yet).
Enjoy your coffee - whether it is covering eggs, or a Starbucks! Happy Easter this weekend to all!
I like the "coffee talk" approach, and it's Friday- so I'm sticking to that as my theme. In case you aren't familiar - or didn't read my previous "coffee talk" post - that just means that I'll be typing a blog post as if I were sitting and talking to you in a coffee shop, over a "cuppa".
It's Easter weekend - which means several things. A few extra hours off of work and daycare (part of thursday, and all of good friday). Fortunately, we were also invited to a playdate - which will make the day go by fast! This is a natural egg-dying playdate. SO - right now, in the fridge, I have spinach, coffee, and blueberries attempting to add some color to eggs. Just to get fancy, I made a few brown and a few white in each of the batches, to see if egg color matters for the natural dying process. After seeing the results after the eggs had finished cooking, I'm not very impressed. I'm hoping tomorrow that I will be wowed- - or that one of the other party-goers will have more success with their selected ingredients! We don't have any plans for Easter. No travel for the weekend (in fact, it's practically a sin that we have no airline tickets purchased at this point in time!). No food activities planned. The kiddos did spend last weekend with Dad at Bond park, and they got to hunt.
In other news, I need to start studying again. I've had the materials for a while now, so it's just a matter of cracking open the books. That's on the agenda for the weekend. We'll see if it actually comes to fruition!
I finally made an effort to plan a coffee-date in real life- the face to face kind. After I had the people and the time - I learned that our chosen venue was "fully committed" more than a month out. Which- I thought - was an odd way of saying "booked" or "sold out". But anyhow... we're trying to determine whether to pick another date for our fancy afternoon tea, or to pick another activity for our already planned afternoon time!
I am excited about being a World Book Night giver again this year! I have 20 copies of The Dog Stars just waiting for April 23rd, when I will be able to distribute to whomever I choose! It is an awesome organization that gives books away for free one night per year. This is my third year - the first year I gave away Ender's Game, and last year I gave away Still Alice. All good books! (Of course- I still have not read The Dog Stars - so I guess I can't actually reccommend that one yet).
Enjoy your coffee - whether it is covering eggs, or a Starbucks! Happy Easter this weekend to all!
Wednesday, April 16, 2014
Wednesday, April 9, 2014
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